


Foot in Mouth

by myamya



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Banter, Description of Injuries, F/M, M/M, Might be slow to update, Silly, sonia/leon in the background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:48:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25257958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myamya/pseuds/myamya
Summary: It was something that could only happen to him (well anyone else seven foot tall actually, ie. only him).Distracted while teasing Leon before a match, Raihan hits his forehead on a doorframe and ends up with a concussion. It hurts and he feels a right fool, but in hindsight the whole situation was pretty funny.Besides the uh, accidentally confessing to Piers part.
Relationships: Kibana | Raihan/Nezu | Piers
Comments: 30
Kudos: 121





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Lol this is so silly! It will be multi chapter too and I'll try and update as quickly as I can. Will also alter the summary when I think up a better one!

**_Piers_  
** _I'm hoppin' onto the train now, will probs get to the stadium in like two hours or so? Hope it's not delayed or anything cos Rose'll kill me if I'm late_

 **_Raihan_  
** _I don't think he's even gonna be there today so you'll be right. He's a hypocrite anyway, he always rocks up after events start_

 **_Piers_  
** _Mmmm ikr, still won't stop him though. Hey, you keen to come out for drinks tonight? I think Nessa was organising something since we're all gonna be in Hammerlocke_

"This bloody thing!"

Raihan looked up from his phone to watch the scene unfolding in front of him. He was currently seated on a bench in the Hammerlocke Stadium lockers, kicking back while Leon struggled to get the door of his open. He briefly considered helping him but thought better of it, this was much funnier. Plus, Leon kept the same locker every time he battled here so it really was his own fault for not having learnt the combination yet.

"They oughta make them easier to open. Rai, can you talk to the maintenance here or something?"

"No one seems to have an issue with it besides you," He teased back with a laugh. "But anyway you ready to get your arse handed to you today?”

They were at a League training day, you see. They had them bi-monthly, usually at his stadium or Motostoke’s so that they could practice or try out new techniques. Occasionally if the Chairman was free he’d come down and they’d turn more into performance reviews, hence Piers's concern, but it was pretty infrequent. Hopefully today was _not_ one of those times though, he wasn't in the mood to be professional.

But anyway five more minutes of fiddling with the dial passed and _finally_ it swung up open, revealing the inside that was bare except for one lone cap. It was emblazoned with _HAMMERLOCKE est. 16XX_ on the front and Leon swiftly replaced the one currently on his head with it (he kept one in every city, you see). It was only then did he _finally_ reply, “Hasn’t happened so far, doubt it’s going to happen today. I’ve got my lucky hat on.”

“Every hat is your lucky hat,” He grumbled back and with a grunt, he pushed himself to standing to stride over to his own locker. With one swift turn of the dial (Leon was shocked), the door opened and he shed his hoodie and track pants. He would have liked to say that it was graceful but he’d forgotten his shoes were on and his pants got caught, almost sending him A over T. Once recovered and fully clad in his League uniform, he continued, “But hey mate, I might have been doing some super special training in hopes of beating you, you never know.”

“You haven’t,” Leon laughed. “I see all your posts online and not _one_ of them mentioned special training _and_ you would have told me, you can’t a keep secret.”

His mouth dropped open in faux-surprise and he looked at his mate with hands on hips. “You wound me, Leon.”

A shrug. “I only speak the truth…hey, help me out with stretches?”

“Alright alright, get on the floor.” He clambered down onto the cold cement flooring, laying down straight on his back. Raihan grabbed his right leg and lifted it up, stretching it straight up. They usually helped each other out like this, had been ever since they discovered the benefits of stretching back in their teen years (and after Raihan had suffered an unfortunate hamstring injury that he still occasionally blamed his current losses on). He did wonder who helped when he wasn’t around, he couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to get up too close with smelly old Leon. Probably some random physiotherapist or personal trainer, the gyms’ had to employ a couple of them just in case someone dislocated a joint throwing a dynamax ball or something.

“Your loverboy is gonna be here today.” Leon remarked as Raihan switched legs. In hindsight he probably should have dropped them down and refused to continue for the comment but he was too distracted by the reddening of his cheeks.

“I only said he was kinda cute _one time,_ ” He answered with a roll of his eyes. Although he probably didn’t see it because he was trying his best to hide the blush behind Leon’s big old calf muscles. Arceus, he felt like a teenager again. “And anyway, who _doesn’t_ think he’s good looking? It’s been scientifically proven that being a musician makes you more attractive.”

“I guess objectively speaking he _is_ pretty handsome.”

“See? You admit it too, might as well call him _your_ loverboy.”

“No no, I was _objectively_ speaking. You were absolutely, one hundred percent _subjectively_ speaking when you said it,” He’d propped himself up on his elbows now, undoing the hard work of the stretch and continued with a grin, “Anyway, the Raihan doth protest too much, methinks.”

You know, Leon seemed to talk a lot of shit for someone who was at the mercy of another. And _especially_ someone who knew exactly what his limits were with stretching, but then again, he’d never been the brightest that it wasn’t surprising. So as a warning, he pushed his leg up _just_ a little too far to be comfortable. “Keep this up mate and you’ll have to find someone else to help you stretch and I doubt you’ll find someone willing to A) help out so close to the beginning of our scratch match and B) put up with the smell of your dank socks.”

“Okay _fine,_ I’ll be quiet but just for the record,” There was that grin again. “I think Piers is actually really cool.”

With a groan, he lowered his leg for him and started on the next stretch. They switched positions and soon after the referee stuck his head in and told them that the pitch was good to go and they could come out when ready. They stood up slowly, joints cracking like the good old men in their late 20s that they were and grabbed their things to head outside.

“Hey, wanna grab a feed after this? I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that burger place we went to with Sonia last time.” The last two words Leon said were cut off as he slammed his locker shut but Raihan got the gist.

He half-turned his torso around so he could look back at Leon from across the locker room. Evidently he was way more prepared than his friend as he was already heading out towards the field and Leon was still tying his shoes up. “Sure,” How could he refuse? This particular restaurant was definitely going to cause him some to have some high cholesterol in the future with how much he went there, but hey that was Future Raihan’s problem. So he spun back around and, “That place is — ah…shit!”

At that exact moment the sound of bone hitting doorframe could be heard all throughout Hammerlocke...or at least that locker room. It certainly hurt but the shock of it was the real kicker and he stumbled back a few steps. His hand flew up but he quickly retracted it when he found that touching it did indeed cause some pain, leaving it hovering awkwardly over the injured site. There was a bump starting to rise already and once the initial surprise had worn off, he cursed himself for being so stupid.

So you're probably wondering what had just happened and why it had happened so quickly, right? The short answer for that was most places weren’t designed for someone of Raihan’s grand stature. _Especially_ not historical buildings that didn’t conform to new architectural standards and had lower than normal doors, ie. every building in Hammerlocke. So as he’d turned around, he hadn’t realised how close he was to the doorway and had whipped his head smack-bang into the top of the door frame. He was usually pretty good at navigating his height but had just been so distracted by the thought of burgers that he hadn't been focusing.

"Shit, Rai...you alright? I could hear the crack from all the way back there." Leon had suddenly appeared at his side and was trying to inspect the bump.

"Yeah, I think so," He reached up to touch the spot again, _ooh boy_ it was going to bruise up something nasty. Maybe he'd have a cool scar, that'd be awesome. Chicks (and hopefully Piers) dug scars after all. "Reckon I should post a photo of it?"

"I think you should wait until after I beat you," He laughed, stepping around Raihan and heading towards the field. "But hey, if it hurts real bad we can always postpone."

"I'll be right, don't worry." He quickly snapped a photo of his forehead before following Leon out. Look, it _was_ really hurting now and it sort of felt like it was turning into a headache but he figured as soon as he got out there he'd forget about it. Everything seemed to drop away when he was battling and he'd become oblivious to the outside world and this (probably) wouldn't be any exception.

He had to squint as they stepped out into the field, it was unusually sunny today (by Galarian standards anyway) and it was adding to the headache. Usually he was okay with it due to his gratuitous use of Sunny Day but today just felt harsher than usual. He should have brought sunglasses or something -- yeah he'd look like a tosser wearing them but he looked like a tosser squinting now anyway, so what did it matter.

"Hey you two!" The perky voice interrupted his internal lamenting and he looked around to find the source of it. It, of course, belonged to Melony and her blindingly white outfit only furthered the throbbing in his head and failing eyesight. How she could wear that big scarf and jumper in this weather was beyond him.

"Good to see ya, Melony!" Leon replied, waving her over. "Where's Gordie? Actually where is everyone else for that matter?"

"I think he's meeting them all at the station but they'll be here soon enough," She smiled, first looking at Leon and then settling on Raihan. The rational part of his brain told him that she was just being polite but unfortunately the irrational part was much larger and it was screaming at him that she knew about his crush. "They" specifically meant Piers, didn't it? He did his best to quash that thought though, or at least push it aside till later. What was most important want beating Leon. "But don't wait for them, you know that Kabu always runs on Hoenn time so they'll probably be a while."

Well, that was all the permission that they needed and they quickly took their positions on the opposite ends of the battlefield. Plus, the sooner they started the less chance the Chairman would see their battle. But goddamn, if he'd thought his head was hurting before then he certainly didn't know how to describe it now. Previously localised, the pain seemed to have travelled across his forehead and so now the entire thing felt like there was an elastic band around it, pulling tighter and tighter. Maybe he should have asked the ref for a ibuprofen or something but it was too late now.

Their match started just as most of his matches did -- with a sandstorm. He'd come up with a whole strategy to take out Charizard the other night, but Leon being the ridiculous prodigy he was had trained Charizard to squint so as to avoid getting the grit in its eyes. He couldn't help but chuckle when he watched it, it kind of looked like him (although they were squinting for very different reasons). But as soon as he let out the first _ha_ he stopped himself. What was he doing? He had to concentrate, battles against his rival were no laughing matter! _Focus mate, focus!_

"Flygon, Dragon Claw!" He shouted and his pokemon did as he said but narrowly missed Charizard who had ducked down to avoid the swipes. This was exactly as he'd planned, it was a _"gotcha!"_ move and now that it had made contact with the ground he could finally use Earthquake. "Dragon Claw again!"

Wait, what?

He'd totally planned to use Earthquake but all he could think of while yelling was Dragon Claw. Flygon -- obviously confused -- tried to swipe again and missed, much to nobodies surprise. But now the two of them were so close, it would be the perfect time to use...um...? What was the other move that it knew? Sandstorm, Earthquake and Dragon Claw, but what was the last one? It was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't recall it right now. And the more he thought about it, the more his head ached.

Perhaps it was a combination of the pain in his head and the bright sunlight, but he was starting to feel a little unsteady on his feet. He'd never been one to suffer from motion sickness but the constant shifting of the sandstorm was dizzying and soon he couldn't even focus properly on the battle. Would it be so bad if he sat down for a moment? Just to regain his composure? Leon had said it was fine if they postponed so surely it would be okay just to take a small rest. Without thinking about it any further, he lowered himself into a squat and shut his eyes. He just needed to stop the spinning, he'd be okay after that.

Apparently though this was quite alarming for Leon, Melony _and_ the referee and he could hear Leon shouting his name (although it was going in one ear and out the other at the moment). Flygon had seemingly realised something was wrong too and thus the sandstorm had subsided, leaving him very clearly visible. He didn't notice though, all he could think about was _breathe and then get up and beat Leon_.

"Is he okay?" He vaguely heard Melony say from across the field. "Should we stop the match?"

"I...I don't know," Was Leon's response. "He hit his his head like five minutes before this but he seemed okay."

"Leon! You should have said something!" There was a whistle from the referee and a moment later Melony was standing over him. "Head injuries are not something to be taken lightly, he could have a concussion! Raihan, pet, are you alright?"

"Just gimme a minute," He answered, although he wasn't quite sure if it was him that was actually answering. The voice felt distant, like it was coming from behind him. "I've got a killer headache and everything is kinda swaying 'cause of it but I'll be okay."

A minute passed and he felt a hand hook underneath his arm, pulling him up to standing. He started to protest but was immediately met with a shush. "I think you need to sit down for a moment, you can resume your fight afterwards."

He glanced over at Leon who was staring at him with knitted eyebrows and a worried frown, and then let himself be led over to the bleachers by Melony. There was no way he'd be able to win like this so it would be pointless to continue. He'd be okay after a sit down out of the sun though, then they could start up again. Everyone else would probably have arrived at that point too and he'd be able to show ~~Piers~~ them just how much his recent training had paid off.

Leon threw him his bottle and he took a sip, hoping that the water would be a cure-all for his ailments right now. Much to his surprise (but no one else's), it wasn't and he had to shut his eyes again just for a break from the swaying. When Melony noticed this, she was up and grabbing her things from the sidelines.

"Love, I think we need to take you to the ED," She said. "Even if it's just a bad headache, it's better to be safe than sorry. Leon, where's the hospital in Hammerlocke?"

"Leon's the last person you should be asking about that," He chuckled, pushing himself to standing and grabbing onto the guardrail for support. They watched him warily, too worried to even laugh back at his joke. "It's only a ten minute car ride from here, but Leon doesn't drive and I walked to work this morning. I'm okay though really, I promise."

Her eyes drifted to where his hands were tightly clasped and then back up to his face, a frown now having joined the party. "I drove down from Circhester this morning so my car is outside. Leon, grab his water and let's go. I'll text Gordie and let him know where we are."

Without much choice, he was herded out the stadium gates and bundled up into Melony's giant SUV. _"It's for the kids,"_ she chuckled and both him and Leon were shocked to learn that she had more children than just Gordie. Not thinking about where he was going thanks to the shock of the extra kids though, he almost whacked his head against the car's door frame again. Thankfully Leon saw the imminent disaster and caught him in time. What was going on? He lived every day with this height, so why was he suddenly so clumsy?

By the time they arrived at the hospital the headache was all but gone and the dizziness had subsided substantially. In fact he felt pretty much ready to get back on the battlefield and continue their scratch match. But Melony wouldn't have any of it and she marched up to the triage nurse at the desk and checked him in. The woman sitting there let out a small gasp when she noticed Leon with them and ushered them over to some seats in the corner. She was mumbling something about _"more privacy over here"_ and that she didn't want a commotion to be caused in the waiting room. One glance at her face told them that she was _way_ too tired for that and they promised to keep as quiet as they could.

"How's your head?" Leon asked once they'd settled into their seats.

"Haven't had any complaints." He replied and Leon, satisfied with that answer sat back with his arms crossed over his chest. The joke however had _not_ gone over Melony's head and she looked at him with wide eyes and as if she was holding back laughter. He knew what she was thinking, she had to keep playing the part of the mum.

"Well," She said, _definitely_ holding back laughter. "You're fine enough to make jokes at least."

"I'm fully fine, really." It was a weak attempt at protesting and Melony recognised that, shaking her head as she turned back towards the front. Look, as much as he was putting up a fight he _knew_ that he should be here. He didn't normally suffer from headaches -- let alone ones that sudden or strong -- that he knew that there was something going on upstairs. He just hoped that it would rectify itself easily enough (and quickly, he didn't have a lot of sick leave left).

The sound of the entryway doors swinging open caught his attention and he watched as a young man walked through by himself, only accompanied by a small Rookidee perched on his shoulder. Even though he was a ways away, he could see that his face was paler than it should be. He checked himself in with the nurse and then took a seat close to the front. The next five minutes were spent with his head in one hand, scratching his Rookidee with the other and occasionally looking up when there was some movement near the front of the room. As he watched, he felt this sudden pang in his chest and he had to push the lump in his throat down. It was just that the thought of this poor guy having to come to the hospital all alone wasn't right, where were his friends and family? Thank Arceus for pokemon, huh?

To distract himself from whatever this weird sadness he was feeling was, he started mentally going over the battle from before. Clearly a sandstorm wasn't going to do anything, so he'd have to work out a new opener. But what? It seemed that everything he tried, Leon would just counter it in some unexpected way. He'd been thinking about it for a while, usually using it as a way to spur his training on but honestly right now all he had was the pervasive thought that his efforts were all for nought.

"Oi Leon," He hissed his name so as not to attract any attention their way. He'd suddenly decided that he had to tell him about this revelation right here, right now. Leon, who had pulled his cap down over his face, yanked it back up and looked at him. "So I've been thinking..."

"How unlike you."

"Look, I may have walked into a doorframe but I'm not _that_ dumb," They both chuckled and he felt his mood lift ever so slightly. "Anyway what I _wanted_ to say was that I know I'm never going to beat you."

His playful expression dropped and was instantly replaced with confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I always talk big game about how I'm gonna win but I need to give it up," His face was now shifting from confusion to concern. "I've known it's not going to happen for a while now but I just didn't want to admit it."

"Hey mate don't say that, you've had me on the ropes more than once. And anyway, how are you supposed to keep pushing and growing if you just give up?"

In hindsight, he wasn't sure where this or the sudden surge of random emotion had come from. In fact, when asked asked by Leon about it later, he wouldn't even remember the conversation.

"Yeah well it is what it is." Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it) their conversation was cut short by the doctor calling Raihan's name. Melony quickly asked if he wanted them to come in with him and he said no, he'd be alright on his own now that the headache was gone. With a nod she let him go, saying that they'd come and check on him when everything was all done.

The doctor was an older gent with a kind face and he sat him down in an old beige chair by the window of the small room. The decor was dated and the wallpaper certainly looked like it had seen better days, namely days twenty years ago. It was pretty dismal and he wondered why more of his tax wasn't going towards the GHS. Then again, people were always whinging about taxes so it was no wonder it was in the state it was. Still, the doctor seemed competent so he wasn't too worried.

"So Rai -- you don't mind me calling you that, do you?" He shook his head and the doctor continued. "I've been told that you have a possible concussion which isn't good at all. Do you mind walking me through what happened?"

He laughed, thinking over the absurdity of what he was about to explain while the doctor watched in slight concern. "Oh sorry, so you probably noticed when I walked in that I'm close to being seven foot tall. Well, I was distracted and hit my head on a doorframe I was trying to walk through. Arceus, that sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud."

"You'd be surprised at the stories that I hear," He smiled. "Now, have you had any symptoms, Rai? I don't think your friends would have brought you here if they didn't have cause for concern."

And so he described to him the headache and dizziness that had both suddenly disappeared, and how everything had been so bright he could barely see. He mentioned how he'd forgotten what to do in the middle of his scratch match earlier and that he had been distracted by small things he wouldn't normally think about. As he listed it all, he kept an eye on the doctor to try and gauge what he was thinking but his face was blank, only showing concern when Raihan showed him the bump. After scribbling some notes down, he had him walk across the room and touch his finger to his nose, along with a whole host of other random physical tests that in his opinion, he absolutely aced. The doctor however, had a different opinion.

"Well it seems like they were bang on with thinking you had a concussion."

_Great._

Like, he'd suspected it but he would have much preferred to just have a bruise or something.

The worry must have been clearly evident on Raihan's face because he quickly continued, "They're much more common than you'd realise and the majority of patients recover quickly. Just make sure you follow the advice I give you for the next few weeks. Although I will just bring your friends in while we talk, it's always good to give the advice to more than one person just in case."

He stuck his head out the door and mumbled something to a nurse that was passing by. A moment later, the nurse reappeared flanked by both Leon and Melony, the two quickly taking the spare two equally as beige seats on the other side of the room. The doctor was clearly surprised that the Champion sitting in this dreary room but he managed to conceal it and launched into a spiel about the things he could and couldn't do. It was normal things like no alcohol, no strenuous physical activity, lots of sleep, all that general sort of stuff. But there was _one_ thing that really stuck out to him:

"Limit your time on screens, the bright lights that phones emit can slowly down recovery time."

"Aw man, what?"

"Ha ha what are you going to do now, Rai?"

If he had been concussion free he would have instantly shot back something at Leon, but alas he was not and by the time the words had sunk in it was too late and the doctor was already speaking again. Eventually he got to the end of his list and finished up by saying that they would keep him in for observation until the end of the day and that Leon and Melony were free to stay but there was to be no more than two people in the room at once. _"You know, just for safety reasons."_

He went to attend to another patient soon after, leaving the three of them there to process everything they'd just been told. He wasn't super happy about it and the overload of information was bringing the headache back on, but he had nothing else to do so he might as well chat to them. Needed some way to kill the time, otherwise it was going to be a _long_ day.

"Guess we won't be able to get food afterwards, sorry mate."

"I think your health is a bit more important than going out for dinner." Leon laughed. "You could always use the Flying Taxi food service though, pretty sure the place we were going does delivery." Was what he _thought_ Leon said, but he wasn't sure. He'd just remembered something, something bad.

He'd forgotten to text Piers back (which really should have been the least of his worries right now).


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the nice feedback! I hope this chapter is good and just as silly as the first one.
> 
> Memory loss can be a symptom of a concussion and poor Raihan isn't having a great time with it haha

Being stuck in the hospital for the day while all his coworkers were out having fun battling each other was -- to put it lightly -- boring as zubat shit. Leon had been called back to the stadium by Rose soon after his diagnoses and Melony had had to take several phone calls from her second oldest child (who was right in her teen years), so she'd been in and out the whole time.

"They just never stop arguing and she feels the need to call me every single time the younger ones say something," She'd explained, exasperated after the third call. "Don't have more than two kids, pet, they'll do your head in."

They'd moved him to a proper room now and he was grateful for that. The chair he'd had to sit in prior had not been made for someone his height (a common occurence) and had been mighty uncomfortable. It was private too and he'd overheard the nurse say it was because they didn't want the other patients to be disrupted by Leon and the leaders. It had made him laugh when he'd heard it, Leon and the Leaders would be a great band name if Leon had any sort of musical talent whatsoever. The man was a unmatched as a trainer but couldn't hold a tune if his life depended on it.

The room was just as stale as the last one, the paint on the walls yellowing in places where the sun hit through the windows each day. But it was clean and it had a bed and that was the most important thing. He had his head on the pillow, tracing the faint outline of the bricks slightly visible through the old plastering on the back wall with his eyes. The headache had come back with a vengeance and he was doing everything he could to distract himself from it, he couldn't even use his phone like he normally did.

The door opened and Melony slipped through, at the tail end of her phone call. When she noticed him laying there, eyes unfocused , she hung up and quickly started gathering her things. "I might head back to the stadium, love, give you some time to rest before the others arrive."

"Others?" The distant feeling was back too. This was lame.

"The Chairman just called and he'd send whoever had finished their scratch matches over to visit. If you're not feeling up to it though I can always call him back."

"Nah, it's okay," He shifted himself to sitting. Maybe that'd help for a while. "It'll be good to have company, otherwise it's going to be a long-ass -- I mean long and boring day."

She smirked at his slip up. "I have an adult son, I've heard it all before." Then with a quick wave, she hurried out and Raihan was left well and truly alone for the first time all day.

The paracetamol that the nurse had given him had started to kick in now and he wasn't feeling like his head was going to explode anymore. It was more at the level of a half-inflated balloon about to pop, rather than a big kaboom firework type explosion now. This meant that he was able to think more clearly and what did he start thinking about? Piers, of course. Piers coming to visit and seeing him looking rough and zombie-like. He probably wouldn't even care but the idea was still enough to make him cringe.

He knew it was stupid to worry so much, the chances of anything actually happening between them were slim to none. For one thing, he didn't know if Piers actually swung that way _and_ even if he did, there was no guarantee he'd feel the same way abouthim. They were friends of course, but they weren't close enough to really talk about such things (something he'd spent many a night lamenting). So yeah, he was well aware that the worrying was all in vain but it didn't mean he didn't do it.

He'd actually known of Piers before either of them had become gym leaders and had fancied him since all the way back then. Piers' band had been making waves in the local music scene and he'd seen him in a magazine while taking shelter from the Galarian winter in a small newsagency in Motostoke. He'd picked it up, read the story about their debut album and had thought to himself _"Wow, that guy is fit"_ and that had been that. It wasn't until they met at one of these training days that they'd actually talked that he discovered that he also had a really cool personality and that they got along surprisingly well (for two people that seemed to be opposites at first glance). And the rest, as they say, is history.

You know, it was strange to feel like this again, he'd thought he'd left behind crushing on someone like this in his teenage years. And it wasn't as if he'd never dated someone before, he'd seen people casually throughout the first half of his twenties but none of them had occupied his thoughts quite like Piers seemed to. It was hard work feeling this way and he didn't think he was any better equipped to deal with it than he had been ten years ago. There was also the guy trying to work out if the other guy was also into guys thing, which in itself made things infinitely trickier. It was just such --

"Knock knock!" The voice startled him and he looked up to see two sets of eyes peeking through the doorway. A moment later Gordie and Milo barged through and raced for the chair closest to the window.

Gordie, who the voice had belonged to, was the first to speak once they'd sorted out their chair quarrel and settled down. "So, is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"That you whacked your head on the doorframe and that's how you ended up in here?" He was leaning forward, elbows on his knees as if he was in an interrogation. His expression however, told him that was was just barely holding the laughter in. He didn't blame him, if it wasn't him sitting on this hospital bed then he'd be laughing too.

"Hey now, it's not my fault that they build doors in Hammerlocke for Milo's height."

Milo's mouth dropped open and he replied with, "Keep talking like that and I'll pick you up and chuck you across the room, mate," He was joking but Raihan didn't doubt his ability. They'd all seen the hay bales in Turrfield. "How are you feeling anyway? Concussions aren't much fun."

And so once again he explained the headaches and the dizziness and how sometimes when he spoke he felt like the voice was coming from behind him. Gordie and Milo nodded along, both commenting that they had fallen victim to the dreaded ailment themselves at points in their lives. Gordie when his younger sister had whacked him over the head with a toy darmanitan and Milo when a rogue wooloo had sent him flying headfirst into a fence post. But the worst part of it all, he said, was that he couldn't even use his phone to pass the time.

"When did I become so reliant on the damn thing," He moaned, falling back onto the pillow dramatically. "That I can't even go an hour without it?"

"So that's why you didn't answer our messages," Gordie said. "We texted and asked what room you were in but ended up having to ask the nurse."

"Ha, sorry." He laughed, propping himself back up. It wasn't as if he hadn't been thinking about that because he certainly had, worrying about what messages he was missing or if ~~Piers~~ anyone was thinking he was rude for not replying instantly like he normally did. Gordie's comment confirmed his fears and his mind threatened to send him off on a mental tangent of stress again.

_But_ that wouldn't do any good right now and so he catalogued the worries for later and joined in on the conversation Milo had launched into about their battle. It was entertaining enough and he made a comment or two about how Milo should use weather tactics, but mostly it was just Milo and Gordie. He let his mind wander and he started to wonder who was coming next, he hadn't looked at the training schedule so he really had no idea.

There was a small lull in the conversation and so he took the chance and jumped in with, "So who's coming next?" He wanted to be prepared for if it was Piers but he didn't want them to _know_ that was why.

"Nessa and Piers I think," Milo answered, glancing over to Gordie for confirmation. "Pretty sure they were just getting ready after we finished up."

"Yeah, definitely was them," Gordie nodded. "I only remember because Piers didn't have his jacket on and it was the first time I've ever seen his arms. Guess he's not used to the warm Hammerlocke weather, but to be fair neither am I." He motioned to his own bare arms, pale from the non-existent sun in Circhester.

"Today isn't even that warm." He laughed, hoping that it didn't come out sounding as eager as he felt. It seemed to have worked as neither of them seemed to react in any strange way. Say what you want about Raihan, but he could _act_ if he really needed to.

"Hard disagree," Gordie pushed himself out of the chair and started to head towards the door. "It's too bloody hot in here, I'm gonna go look for a cold drink. You guys want anything?" They both answered the affirmative and he quickly disappeared out the room. Less than a moment later, he reappeared awkwardly balancing three bottles of lemonade and explained that there was a vending machine right outside the room.

He unscrewed the lid and took a swig. Arceus, he was thirsty...or hungry, he couldn't tell. He hadn't eaten since this morning and it was what, two in the afternoon now? Maybe he could order pizza to the hospital, would that be so wrong? He might even try and get Rose to spring for it since he (probably) wouldn't come and visit him, _or_ if that didn't work then he'd keep the receipt and try and claim it on tax. Worth a shot, right?

"So," He said, putting the bottle down on the side table. The lid wasn't on properly and some splashed onto the surface. "Who's coming next? Your mum said that the Chairman was sending people over."

Gordie and Milo exchanged looks and Raihan suddenly felt weird for asking. Did they know?

After a bit of awkward backwards and forwards with their eyes, Milo finally replied, "Um...you just asked that five minutes ago."

At that moment he was pretty sure his face resembled that meme he'd Sonia use of the confused lady with the math symbols over her face because he _did not_ remember asking that at all. "Did I?"

Milo must have sensed the awkwardness because he quickly backtracked, a faint blush spreading out over his cheeks. "Oh but it's probably just the concussion! That's a symptom, you know."

"Absolutely," Gordie's booming laugh cut in and the tension was lifted. "Happened to me, I remember asking my sister four times what we were having for dinner. Don't remember what the actual answer was though. She was so annoyed that she threatened to hit me in the head again."

He had to laugh but it was kind of concerning at the same time, what if he said something that was really embarrassing and forgot about it? What if he already had and he just couldn't remember? It _probably_ wouldn't happen though and he managed to shove the thought out of his mind. No point in worrying too much, that'd only bring on the headache again. Plus, it'd just make for a funny story anyway. He was never one to shy away from looking stupid if it could elicit a laugh from someone.

"Oh speaking of forgetfulness, Rose messaged me while I was out there and said that the next two were on their way over," He was up and out of his chair again. "So we better skedaddle, Milo. Hope you feel better soon, mate."

"Rest and take it easy," Milo added. "It's really the only way to properly get over it." And then they were gone, leaving Raihan wondering who was coming next.

He didn't have long to wonder though because almost immediately after they'd made their exit, he heard them run into presumably the next two out in the hallway (he gathered from Gordie's _"Hey, long time no see!"_ and Milo's _"We only saw them an hour ago"_ ). He couldn't hear what the response was, but he definitely picked up on the Spikemuth accent and instantly his stomach was in his throat. Was it nervousness, excitement, hunger, who knows? Probably a mix of all three if he was being honest.

He was too busy trying to force it back down to its usual spot that he didn't hear the rest of the conversation and almost jumped out of the bed when the door swung open again. It was, of course, Piers and Nessa. They'd evidently come straight from their match, neither having bothered to change out of their League uniforms and if he was being honest, both looking kind of sweaty.

His eyes went straight to Piers' arms, they were bare and shining so brightly under the hospital lights that he could have been a beacon for lost ships. He probably wouldn't have looked at them normally (it wasn't as if he'd never seen his arms before) but he vaguely remembered a comment being made earlier, although he couldn't quite place where he'd heard it. The most important thing to note though, was that his hair had been pulled out of his face and fastened into a big ol' knot at the top of his head. Raihan wanted to scream, how could he fancy him even more than he already did? How was this fair?

But he couldn't gawk, that would be too obvious. So he looked at Nessa to avoid ratting himself out this early into the visit. The quick turn of his head caused a great deal of dizziness though and the distant feeling came rushing back. What great timing. "Hey Nessie!"

She glared back, "It's -sa, not -sie."

"I know, Nesso. And hey, Piers! You're looking fit as usual."

Ha, what was that about ratting himself out? Thankfully though -- or not, your call -- he wasn't even aware of what he was saying. It was the same sort of feeling as when he'd whined to Leon about never being able to beat him, not like he could even remember that. The words just sort of coming out without any thought as to what those words actually were. He was the very definition of a Freudian Slip.

Piers understood though and his face was already tinged pink because of them, although his expression was more of a confused frown. "What are ya talking about? Are ya making fun of me because I've got my hair tied up? I know it looks dumb but it keeps it out my face."

"No way," He chuckled. "I mean it. Leon can attest if you need more proof."

His confusion quickly gave way to a small smile which he -- if he had been feeling better -- would have read way too much into. But instead he just smiled goofily which then caused Nessa to break into the biggest grin you ever did see. They took the two empty seats after that and this did wonders for Raihan's dizziness. Now that they were stationary, it subsided and he felt present again. Arceus, he hoped that all this would subside in a few days, it was bloody annoying.

But now that he was back in the room, he noticed something. "Did you get sunburt, Piers? Your cheeks are kinda red."

He glanced over at Nessa who was still grinning away and then back to Raihan and said, "Yeah, somethin' like that. But anyway how are ya feeling? I was worried when Leon told us what happened, concussions are balls."

So for the _third_ time that day, he explained exactly what he was feeling. He may have exaggerated a thing or two in hopes of gaining a little sympathy from his beloved, but nothing too dire. "Have you guys ever had one? Any advice on how to deal with it? Because I am so lost." He finished with.

"Yep once," Piers laughed, probably at Raihan's wild gesticulating while he told the story. "Was at our first gig ever and I tried to crowdsurf. Clearly didn't go so well and I ended up with a very sore head for a while. I got a cool scar from it though, wanna see?"

Boy, did he. If there was something Raihan liked more than Piers and using weather effects in battle, it was seeing injuries. Morbid curiosity mixed with a love of stupid things meant that he'd spent many an afternoon watching the most ridiculous injury compilation videos online. He himself didn't particularly like sustaining the injuries, but they were fun to watch.

Piers shifted around in his chair and pulled his hair tight, revealing a scar long enough to make him wince. It was long healed but it was pink and shiny, a real whopper. "I went _bam,_ straight onto the concrete. Surprised I wasn't knocked out."

"Damn," He let out a low whistle. "Check out the lump on my head, probably won't scar but it's gonna take a while to go down." He yanked his headband up (too quickly and it made his eye twitch) and leant forward so they could see.

"You guys are gross," Nessa frowned. "I've never had one so I don't think I could give you any advice that the doctor and nurses wouldn't have already told you."

"Yeah, they told me to stay off my phone which _sucks._ Do you know how boring it is in here? All I have to do is stare at the off-white wall and hope that an hour has passed," He groaned, thinking about all the notifications he'd have to catch up on later. "That's why I didn't end up answering your text earlier, mate. Sorry to leave you hanging like that."

"You're all good," He waved his concern away. "I figured that was why. Guess you won't be able to come out for drinks later this evening though."

Shit, he'd forgotten about that. He'd double booked with Leon anyway, so at least it was an easy way to avoid that awkwardness. Still though, he'd really wanted to go out (for obvious reasons). "Yeah, the doc said no alcohol for a while."

"Shame," Piers frowned. "Was looking forward to spending some time with ya. I'll let you know when I'm coming back to Hammerlocke though and we can make up for it, hopefully your head will be in better shape by then."

_Not romantically,_ he forced himself to think, _he doesn't mean romantically. You are friends, don't read into it that much._ Of course he would though, maybe not just this moment but definitely later when he was sitting all alone at home while everyone else was out having a good night. But what if he had meant something by it and Raihan was not picking up what he was putting down? Arceus, life was confusing.

"Gimme a week or two and I'll be right," He answered weakly, trying to hide the fact that his insides were all twisted up into a tight knot. He must have looked visibly in pain because Nessa offered to go get the nurse and he had to say that no, he was just tired.

"It's going to be a long day," He moaned and his two friends nodded in sympathy. "A long, _long_ day."

* * *

In his sixth and final hour in the hospital (he'd asked the nurse how much longer because he was bored with a capital B), he allowed himself to check his phone quickly. They hadn't said no to using it completely after all, just to limit his time on it. The headache had been gone for hours too, so he figured it was okay for a minute or two.

So what did he do? Well, he didn't answer his messages because that required a little too much brainpower that he didn't currently have. No, instead he took a photo of himself sitting on the hospital bed and posted it with the caption:

_I get a lot of people saying they wished they were as tall as me and I usually say no you don't because clothes never fit properly and every bit of furniture looks like it was made for kids or small pokemon. But today I hit upon another reason, and when I say hit upon I literally mean hit. I whacked my head so hard on the top of the door frame that I gave myself concussion. So yeah, you don't wanna be this tall lol._

A few likes and comments of sympathy came rolling in almost immediately, but he'd check them later. No big rush at the moment.

Just as he put the device back on the side table, the screen lit up as it usually did when someone he followed back made a comment. Glancing over, he saw that it was Piers and in an instant, he'd snatched it back up and was checking the message. A few more seconds on it wouldn't hurt, hey?

All it said was, _"looking fit mate"_ with the sunglasses emoji at the end.

What? What did he mean? Did he know? Had Leon told him? Was he making fun of him? Was he joking? Or was he being serious? Were just a few of the questions that flooded his mind at that exact moment and brought the headache back on. Guess this is why they said using your phone was a no go after all.


	3. Chapter 3

Raihan flopped back onto the unfamiliar pillow, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling and unfamiliar walls. Well, it wasn't unfamiliar _per se_ but it wasn't his house. He was staying at his sister's you see, but he'd only ever been in the spare room twice before. Both times when she'd given him a lift home (he was absolutely, totally not drunk in any way, shape or form) from some venue and hadn't trusted him to make it home by himself. Unfortunately tonight was not going to be one of those times, although it had the potential to be this morning before this whole ordeal.

The doctor had instructed him not to be home alone tonight, just in case something more serious happened. It was uncommon and Raihan didn't seem to be exhibiting any signs of any further issues, he'd said, but it was better to be safe than sorry. So she'd picked him up from the hospital, had a laugh at his misfortunate (as all good siblings do) and taken him home to get his things before baling him up into her spare bedroom where he was currently.

He was so bored. It was amazing how little there was to do to occupy time that didn't involve technology in some way, he'd never noticed it until right now. After the first half hour of sitting around bored and alone, he'd switched the television on but kept it on a low volume and brightness. He couldn't watch it for too long without the beginnings of a headache forming again, so he'd resorted just to lying on the bed and watching the clock tick over. He'd even tried to sleep just to pass the time but despite everything that had happened today, he wasn't tired enough yet.

His phone lit up and he grabbed it from the bedside table. He'd been limiting his use, only bothering to respond to messages from people he knew directly as per the doc's instruction. Cold turkey was too much. The notification this time was a Pokesnap chat from Gordie and out of habit, he flicked it open but he soon wished he hadn't. It was a photo of his beer, half downed with two empty glasses behind it already even though it was only eight in the evening. In the background he could see Nessa, Milo, Bea and Piers talking and he felt a sudden surge of FOMO. He hated missing out on things so this was killing him, he wanted to be there _so_ badly.

Plus from what he could tell, Piers looked _cool._ Hair still yanked up into the bun, his entire face was visible and he was grinning at something. He must not have brought that elaborate outfit he usually wore with him and instead had on something red and checkered. He zoomed in trying to work out what the fabric was (is what he told himself), and came to the conclusion that it was simply just a flannelette shirt. This was a mistake though because during his scrutiny, he noticed that he had the sleeves rolled up just past his forearms and well, if there was a way to his heart then that was it.

Just as he put it down, another one came through, this time from Piers. He had a brief moment of panic, thinking that somehow Piers knew he'd been checking out his photo but quickly banished that thought. The only other person in this house was his sister, duh.

It was of Gordie, the half downed beer almost vertical as he sculled the rest of it. Someone -- probably Nessa -- would have challenged him to what are the odds which he had evidently lost. What were the odds of that, right? The caption read _'i'm too old to go that hard anymore lol'_ and Raihan absolutely felt that, they were both on the wrong side of twenty-five after all. Before he'd even had a chance to click off of that snap another one came through, also from Piers. It was his own beer this time with the caption, _'ngl this drink is lookin pretty fit tho'._

Hm. That was the second time he'd called something fit today. It was _more than likely_ just a coincidence because the only person he'd mentioned anything to was Leon (who was clearly not there), but it still made him sort of nervous. Maybe he'd been too obvious, although he thought he was pretty good at hiding it. Perhaps it was just a Spikemuth thing, they probably used it to describe things other than people they fancied just like how Leon used rhyming slang and Melony called everyone pet.

Instead of letting himself go down that path of overthinking and anxiety, he snapped a photo of the glass of water sitting next to the bed. His fingers hovered over the screen for a moment, what he _wanted_ to type was _'i'd rather see a photo of you'_ but what he _actually_ typed was _'much rather that than this'_ and sent it off, accidentally clicking Leon's name too on the recipients. This time the reply came in the form of a message, not a snap. That was nice, it was much easier to carry on a conversation when the message didn't delete as soon as you clicked off the screen.

 **_Piers  
_ ** _How you going? I'm definitely feeling your absence here_

 **_Raihan  
_ ** _I'm alright, just real tired and bored. Staying at my sister's cause apparently i'm not allowed be alone, i feel like such a kid lol. Looks like you guys are in for a big night though, wish i was there_

 **_Piers  
_ ** _Gordie is, maybe Ness too. Not me, not really feeling it tonight you know? Might bail after the next round and go back to the accom. You should be sleeping btw, staying up late is not gonna help that head of yours_

 **_Raihan  
_ ** _I know i know haha and i've been trying. is just hard when you're all out having fun and i'm stuck here bored as_

 **_Piers  
_ ** _I do feel for you. We'll just have to go out next time to make up for it  
_ _...  
_ _Looks like they caught wind of me leaving soon so I gotta buy the next round. Talk to ya later  
_ _...  
_ _Also please try and get some sleep_

He lay back again, feeling decidedly more confused than he had at any other point today. Piers messages certainly could be taken as flirty but they _were_ friends, so he could just be caring about him in that way. He supposed the best course of action would be to just try and respond in kind next time he said anything vaguely flirty and see where it went. He could just play it off as a joke if he didn't mean it that way in the end (and deal with those feelings later).

But no, he had to stop. These concerns kept creeping forward and he had to stop them. There was no point in lying here stressed when he could be thinking about something productive like uh...new weather strategies for his battles. It would be a few days before he could go back to work anyway so he might as well be productive in some way.

Just as he'd started to figure out how he could use hail, he felt a vibration in his hand and he looked at his phone screen again. It was an incoming call from Leon this time, what did he want? Swiping across, he put the device up to his ear and said, "Yes?"

 _"Figured I'd call you since you're not supposed to be looking at the phone screen,"_ Came the familiar voice on the other end. _"Just wanted to let you know that you sent your last snap to me and I'm pretty sure I wasn't the intended recipient."_

He had to laugh, the way Leon had said it made it sound like it was much more serious than it was. "You say that like I accidentally sent you a photo of my --"

_"Arceus, stop. Don't say it. I get enough weird photos in my DMs as it is."_

He laughed again but it was more of a cackle this time, probably deafening Leon. "It was meant for Piers though, I was just jealous that they were all out and I'm stuck here. Surprised that you're not out with them since I bailed on you for dinner."

Leon was silent for a moment before sighing and saying, _"They never invite me out to those things. I guess it's kind of like hanging out with your manager, no one really wants to do it. Probably think I'll rat them out to Rose or something."_

Well shit. "Ah...I didn't realise. Sorry."

 _"No biggie,"_ He could hear the shrug through the phone but he still felt bad. He hadn't known about that. _"Wanted to check up on you as well, but you're obviously fine enough to make jokes,"_ Hey, hadn't someone said something similar to that earlier? He couldn't quite remember. _"So I'm gonna go, Sonia asked me to give her a call since I've been too busy to properly see her. I'll seeya la--"_

"Hey before you go," He said, probably more forcefully than intended. "Do you know if calling something fit in Spikemuth means something different than in the rest of Galar?"

_"Um...I don't think so? I can ask Sonia though. Why's that?"_

"Oh no reason really," He answered. "Have a good one mate and I'll talk to you later."

Once the call was properly ended, he sighed and looked back up at the unfamiliar ceiling. Arceus, what was he going to do with himself?

* * *

That wasn't the end of it. For the next five days, Piers continued to call any and all things fit. He opened a snap, oh look it was a fit view from outside Spikemuth. He won a gym battle, what a fit match that was. Raihan posted a photo sitting bored at kitchen table because he wasn't allowed back at work yet, yep you better believe he received a comment saying he was looking fit. Look don't get him wrong, he appreciated the compliments but it was more confusing than anything else and certainly didn't help with his increasing paranoia that he'd been found out.

"I just don't understand," He complained to Leon over the phone one afternoon. "Did you tell him? Because you're the only person I've ever said anything to."

 _"I haven't said a word,"_ Leon replied with a laugh. _"I have two theories though. The first one is that he's just teasing you, maybe he overheard you use the word once or something."_

"Unlikely, he probably --"

_"Hear me out. The second and probably more likely of the two is that he fancies you too. I think you seem to forget that you are successful, incredibly popular and objectively attractive."_

He snorted. "I certainly don't feel successful sitting here recovering from a concussion, but thanks."

 _"Stop overthinking things and instead focus on your battle strategies. I expect a good fight next time we get the chance."_ He'd hung up after that, leaving Raihan alone and watching the day endlessly stretch out in front of him. Just like yesterday had and the day before.

Rose had told him to take the rest of the week off and so he'd been stuck at home doing absolutely nothing. Nada. Zilch. Something he wasn't very good at. The headaches had subsided after the first two days and he wasn't getting that distant feeling anymore, but when he'd called the doctor he'd been told to wait at least until the weekend to go out. Even if he didn't have any symptoms anymore, the injury was still healing.

By the time it hit Friday morning, he was going absolutely stir crazy and had decided to at least get out for a walk, maybe train his pokemon a little. It was sunny out and it would be a waste to sit indoors and lose out on that vitamin D. But just as he was shoving his legs into his going out shorts his phone lit up, illuminating the dark room (he'd forgotten to open the blinds this morning you see). He almost tripped over the pair of shoes he'd kicked off on Monday and left in the middle of the floor as he reached for it, but caught himself before he could do even more damage to his head.

It was from Piers (his heart now aflutter) and before opening it, he wondered what he was going to be calling fit this time. Hopefully him again.

 **_Piers  
_ ** _Oi man, I'm thinkin of coming up to Hlocke tomorrow cause I need to pick up something from the mart. You feelin up to catching up? I can buy us lunch or dinner or something. Can always come next weekend instead if not._

Well, tomorrow was the weekend and technically the doctor had said it was fine so hell, why not? He didn't need much more convincing than that.

 **_Raihan  
_ ** _Hey! Yeah, sounds fit_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a little bit shorter than the last two, apologies for that.  
> also sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes, my word processing program doesn't have spell check


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After 10 million years, I finally finish this story hahaha. I hope this final chapter makes sense and there are no spelling mistakes, I was really trying to get it done so I didn't leave the fic unfinished haha. Thanks for reading!

It had been a long morning so far. You see, Raihan had unwillingly been up since six in the morning thanks to a number of things and even though it was only midday, he was starting to feel the tiredness set in. And why had he been up so early, he heard you ask? Well, mainly because he'd gone to bed early. How early, you say? Seven pm early.

Now this wasn't usual for him, he usually had a much more normal bedtime of ten pm but he'd run out of things to do after sitting around all week that he'd just given up and gone to bed. The other reason for rising early was that the anticipation of catching up with Piers had woken him up. He was like a kid on Christmas and it was straight up embarrassing. He was _so_ glad he lived alone so he didn't have to explain his childlike eagerness to anyone.

But now that he'd been awake for a good six hours, his energy levels were starting to drop. He didn't normally have too much of an issue but the concussion had really done a number on his stamina. He wanted a coffee so badly but he was meeting Piers in half an hour and they'd probably go out and get one together. Actually there was no probably about it, he would make sure that they did otherwise he would certainly turn into what was commonly known as a zombie. What better way to impress your crush than being a part of the walking dead? Although maybe he'd like that, he did seem to like dark and spooky things after all. But whatever, he didn't want to risk being sleepy and increasing his already high chances of saying something dumb.

Piers had asked to meet at the station at twelve thirty and he'd been anxiously clockwatching since eleven, fingers drumming anxiously on his dining room table. It gave him a chance to catch up on all his notifications from throughout the week though and was a good way to fill up the time between nervous glances to the clock at the top left corner of his rotom phone's screen.

_Hope you're feeling better!_ A comment on his post of a cup of coffee from yesterday read. He replied with a quick thanks and his usual Raihan flair (multiple varying emojis), and moved on to the next one. There were just _so_ many though and eventually he gave up and just focused on the private messages. Most of them were just standard well wishes but he did have to wade through some of the weirder ones from fanboys and girls that had offered to train his pokemon while he was out of action or bring him soup and other comforts.

12:11pm. A few more replies. 12:15pm. Probably still had time to answer a couple more comments, didn't want to appear to eager and get to the station early. 12:20pm and he was up and out of that chair, slamming the front door behind him and doing all that he could to not break in a sprint as he headed for Piers.

He lived in a really convenient part of Hammerlocke, less than a ten minute walk to the main train station and only five minutes to the stadium. It was great because it meant he could roll out of bed just before he was supposed to start for the day and still arrive early. Thankfully the League paid alright because this sort of convenience didn't come cheap, although he did end up saving a lot on fuel costs so maybe it all evened out. It also meant he didn't have much time to ponder his thoughts and anxieties which was also a blessing because if prior situations had taught him, he liked to overthink things.

He'd timed his departure correctly and arrived at the gate just as the train pulled up to the platform. A small crowd poured out, chattering excitedly as they swarmed around a figure in the middle. The figure being Piers of course, who looked surprisingly casual when he wasn't in his over the top gym uniform. He paused for a brief photo and when he noticed Raihan waiting there, directing the crowds attention to him with a cheeky wink instead.

Raihan waved sheepishly and let them take a group photo with him (not individually, he'd made that mistake before and had been stuck for _hours_ ) before herding them off. Once they'd dispersed, Piers stepped over to him and Raihan was suddenly aware how close they were standing together. So close that he could smell the aftershave he was wearing which obviously made his heart speed up to about three hundred beats per minute. He smelt nice, different to what he himself liked to wear.

"That was probably the fittest train ride I've ever had up here, the carriage was basically empty until the second last stop," He said as he closed the gap between them. "I guess Saturday morning is the time to travel, though I wouldn'ta thought it. Anyway, how's your head?"

"Haven't had any complaints yet," He smirked, proud of himself for getting that joke in twice this week. He'd been waiting _years_ to be in a situation to say it. Piers's mouth dropped open slightly and Raihan could swear he saw a slight dusting of a blush over his cheeks. "Nah but really I'm okay. No headaches anymore, just a little tired."

"If that's the case I won't take up too much of your time."

"Take as much as you want, take it all," He laughed. "Besides my family and the occasional call from Leon, you're the first social contact I've had all week." He thought about adding _"and I want to spend as much time with you as possible"_ but quickly dismissed that idea, he didn't want to come off as desperate (not yet anyway).

They made their way out the station and started towards downtown Hammerlocke -- also walking distance from both Raihan's place and the train station. There was the little known hole in the wall close to the cafe district in the city that sold brand name potions and other healing items way below the price that the marts -- who were known for having huge mark ups -- sold them for. He'd shown Piers the place last time he'd been in the city who had then vowed never to pay for an overpriced hyper potion again. It was the reason he'd trekked all the way to Hammerlocke today after all, it wasn't as if Spikemuth didn't have their own mart.

"You guys are close, huh?" He asked when they came to a stop at a crossing. The way he said it Raihan could swear he heard a tiny miniscule hint of jealousy in the tone, but he was probably just hoping for it. He didn't get a chance to answer immediately though and was quickly interrupted by Piers nodding towards the other side of the road. There was a young boy waving at them, who when asked by his mother he was waving to seemed to excitedly explain who they were. Piers waved back and Raihan gave him a thumbs up and a giant grin.

"Yeah, met him when he was taking on the gym challenge here back in the day. Travelled around together for a bit as well which, let me tell you, was a mistake thanks to his infamous sense of direction," He answered, watching as the kid walked off, hands gesticulating wildly as he spoke with mum. "Was there when he proposed to Sonia too. Had to make sure he put the ring on the correct finger."

This made Piers snort with laughter. "Didn't know he was engaged. Can't say I pictured it either."

"They kept it super quiet, Sonia doesn't love the media."

"Don't blame her," The next part of his sentence was cut out by the loud beeping letting them know it was now safe to cross but by the time he realised, it was too late to ask him to repeat himself and all he heard was, "...but man, marriage. That's a big commitment to make. Leon just seems like too carefree of a guy for that."

Raihan felt his breath hitch and he had a feeling that the answer to his next question could leave him bitterly disappointed. Arceus, it wasn't as if they were even dating so why was he getting so antsy about it? He wasn't even sure if Piers fancied guys! "Don't like marriage?"

"Got no strong feelings either way but if I did ever have a wedding it'd have to be in Spikemuth," All the tension he'd been holding in his chest suddenly released and all was well in his world again. Their eyes locked for a moment before Piers quickly looked away, as if he felt awkward about the whole conversation. "Anyway uh, how's your week been?"

"More boring than you'd ever imagine." And for the rest of their journey to the store, Raihan regaled him with stories that detailed how he'd done absolutely everything his house had to offer. He'd binge watched a lot of television (before remembering he wasn't supposed to look at screens), attempted to come up with new battle strategies and done his meal prep for the entirety of the next two weeks. Hell, he'd even cleaned his kitchen to I-really-want-my-security-bond-back standards! He liked to think he was a relatively clean person, but this was another level. His pantry was _spotless._

"So yeah, I'm really happy to be out and about today." He said with a laugh just as they arrived at their destination.

Piers smiled amusedly before heading in, holding the door open for Raihan as he did so. "Don't hit your head on the way in."

"Hey now, it's happened _once._ "

Raihan would have liked to tell you that the trip around the store was fun but in reality, it was pretty uneventful. He'd been here a thousand times before and greeted the clerk as such, directing Piers to the aisles he needed to go to. Occasionally he'd chime in when Piers asked things like if he should buy three ethers or four, to which he replied six because one could never be too prepared.

"Look you're not wrong about that, but I don't really have the wherewithal to grab that many right now," He pointed to the pricetag. Even at cost price they weren't the cheapest. "Guess it just means I'll have to come up again sometime soon." And before Raihan had a chance to overthink again, he herded him towards the counter so they could pay.

The cashier was grinning excitedly as they approached but managed to keep herselff contained as Piers started loading the items up onto the counter. She was young, probably ten years younger than them and Raihan often saw her hanging around Hammerlocke Stadium while his trainers had scratch matches. She'd just started training a nickit she'd told him last week, and liked to come and watch to pick up tips and tricks.

Just as Piers tapped his card on the machine to pay for all his goods, Raihan felt the sudden urge to yawn. He tried to fight it, keeping his mouth clamped shut but soon enough it escaped anyway. Piers and the young clerk both laughed and he covered his mouth up sheepishly, giving her a small apologetic wave.

"I said I'd buy us lunch but I'm thinkin' we should go get coffee first," Piers suggested once they'd left the shop. "If you're up to it, that is."

"If you didn't suggest it, I was about to mate," He replied. "I promise you I'm not always this tired." He yawned again as if to disprove his point and motioned down towards the busier section of the street they were on.

Hammerlocke didn't have quite the bustling cafe scene like Motostoke and Wyndon did, but there were a few decent places he'd discovered after moving into the city centre from the suburbs. He did however doubt how much privacy they would get at midday on a Saturday being you know, the _busiest_ day of the week. He briefly considered just inviting Piers back to his but talked himself out of it, it would probably be too weird. Maybe later in the day when he'd worked himself up to it.

He steered them to the front of a quaint coffee shop and asked Piers if he was cool with the place. The Red Pyroar, it was called. Kind of a weird name considering Pyroar weren't even native to Galar, but whatever. It was a new building styled like it was from ye ole Hammerlocke with stained glass windows and dark timber, cute but very obviously _new_ architecture when compared to some of the _real_ old buildings around. Raihan could see a few couples through the distorted glass but it seemed surprisingly empty which was a positive. Plus, he'd been here a few times and the drinks were good. They always came out quickly which was great if he was running late for work, an all-too-frequent occurrence.

"This place looks fit, not too busy either." Despite having heard the word several thousand times already this week and once today, it caught Raihan off guard and he followed Piers into the cafe in a confused sort of daze that was certainly not aided by his exhaustion.

The waitress's mouth dropped open when they walked in and she rushed out from behind the counter to ask them for a photo or a signature or just _anything,_ bringing him back down to earth. Despite having been a gym leader for a good half a decade, it still surprised him when people wanted photos. Like really? Little old him? He'd perfected the art of having to stoop down and still look good, and so he obliged along with Piers who surprisingly didn't hate the interaction.

"I wouldn't be in either of my careers if I hated attention." He shrugged as they settled down into a booth by the window.

"You're preaching to the choir." He laughed, mind wandering to the hundreds of attention seeking posts he put up on his social media. Dancing, singing along to pop songs or just the old telling a story in an absolutely not dramatised way. Hey what could he say? He'd always been a giant extravert who enjoyed running his mouth.

This made Piers chuckle too, presumably he was also thinking about the same thing. "Besides, who am I to say no to fans? I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for them. The paparazzi on the other hand, don't get me started."

"Oh I know, I've heard the song."

His chuckle turned into a proper laugh this time, but it was a little too loud signalling either nervousness, embarrassment or self-consciousness. Or all three. "Yeah, we weren't exactly subtle...wait, does this mean you listen to my band?"

He froze, mouth slightly open as he realised what he'd just admitted to. He could hear Leon's voice echoing in the back of his mind and it was saying _"caught out, mate"._ It wasn't that he minded anyone knowing that he liked the band, it was just a little embarrassing to admit it in front of the lead singer himself. Not only that, there was the issue of Piers thinking that he only wanted to hang out with him because he was a fanboy. He was _definitely_ overthinking things right now, but he couldn't see that.

So what did he do in his panic? He admitted it, of course.

"Yeah, duh. You guys are sick." He _tried_ to say it casually but his tone was _definitely_ too high-pitched. Hopefully Piers didn't notice.

"Hey thanks," The appreciation in his voice was very obvious and Raihan breathed a mental sigh of relief. Success. "Although I'd call us _fit_ rather than sick, but I appreciate it nonetheless."

There it was again.

"Hey, why do you keep calling things fit?" The words just tumbled out as if he had no control over them (just like they had the first time) and it surprised Piers. In an instant his eyes were downcast, scanning the menu awkwardly and refusing to look directly at him. Great, now he'd gone and offended him. He'd been doing so well in not acting like a total doofus too! "Does it mean something different in Spikemuth? I've been trying to work it out all week."

Piers shook his head but still wouldn't meet Raihain's gaze. He didn't answer for a good minute or so and continued to fiddle with the edges of the menu's paper. It wasn't until they started to curl that he finally replied, "It was just my way of awkwardly trying to flirt back with ya. Guess it didn't work though."

Wait, what?

"Wait, what?"

"Well you said you meant it when you called me fit the other day, so I thought I'd try and let ya know I felt the same way," He mumbled, face as red as the top part of a pokeball. Raihan had never seen him this flustered before, he was usually so calm. "But I've never been much good at it so if I misread the situation please can we forget this ever happened?"

"Arceus no, you didn't misread anything but...when did I call you fit?" He was too confused to feel anything other than well, complete confusion. His eyebrows furrowed, so deep that the headache threatened to come back while he wracked his brains to try and remember what he was talking about. Was this some elaborate joke between Piers and Leon?

"When I visited ya in the hospital the other day. You called Nessa _Nessie_ and then said I was lookin' fit. I didn't believe you but you said you were telling the truth," Teasing Nessa certainly _seemed_ like something he would do but he still couldn't recall the conversation. "Do you really not remember it?"

"All I can remember from your visit is you showing me your cool scar," He frowned. "Now that I think about it, I don't even remember you two arriving. Gordie and Milo were there and then suddenly you were instead."

"It's a pretty common thing, y'know," Piers said. "Memory loss and head injuries."

He paused, trying to think back to what the doctor had said to him at the hospital. All he could remember was being told to stay off his phone, everything else was black. That was _probably_ why the doctor had brought Leon and Melony in too. Arceus, he should probably ask them if he'd said anything else stupid that he couldn't remember.

"Well fuck," He ran his tongue over his top row of teeth while he considered how to proceed. "Well I should probably tell you that I've fancied you for the longest time but wasn't sure how to say anything. Guess I ballsed that up with the concussion and just blurted it out. Maybe a loss of filter is also a side effect."

Piers smirked but he couldn't hide the pink tinge that had quickly spread over his cheeks. "I've been trying to flirt with ya this entire week so the balls in your court now, Rai."

Raihan didn't answer immediately, weighing up his different options. Every option obviously included asking Piers out but he was trying to figure out the best way to do it. They were kind of on a date now but he _would_ like the chance to wine and dine him properly while not at the tail end of a concussion.

"I think," He began. "I think we should go out on a proper date next week. But for now, would you like to come see my place? It's the cleanest it's ever been _and_ I'm very good at cooking pizza. I even have some fancy coffee I picked up when I went to Sinnoh last year, we don't even need to order anything here."

Piers's smirk (which had been somewhat of a self-protective measure) slowly changed into a proper, earnest smile and Raihan felt his heart swell to about fifty times it's usual size. There was no other smile he'd rather see in the world. "Honestly, there is nothin' that sounds better than that right now."


End file.
